Help

Helpdesk

Dear Drugs-Forum readers: We are a small non-profit that runs one of the most read drug information & addiction help websites in the world. We serve over 4 million readers per month, and have costs like all popular websites: servers, hosting, licenses and software. To protect our independence we do not run ads. We take no government funds. We run on donations which average $25. If everyone reading this would donate $5 then this fund raiser would be done in an hour. If Drugs-Forum is useful to you, take one minute to keep it online another year by donating whatever you can today. Donations are currently not sufficient to pay our bills and keep the site up. Your help is most welcome. Thank you.

Research confirms classical music is the best music to listen to while tripping balls

View attachment 48046
For those of us who grew up in the “just say no” era, the research that is being done on psychedelics at John Hopkins is puzzling. I thought drugs were the enemy. Turns out that might not be true. There are several clinical studies going on regarding the benefits of Schedule 1 drugs.

In these studies, psychedelics and music go together well. What kind of music goes well with psilocybin, for instance? Lots and lots of classical music.

The psilocybin playlist from John Hopkins has been shared by the Columbia University Press Blog.The playlist accompanies a book by William A. Richards entitled Sacred Knowledge: Psychedelics and Religious Experiences.

I see a can of worms. Let’s open it.

For starters, yes, there is religious music on the playlist. No, there isn’t any Grateful Dead. The playlist isn’t based on the musical taste of the subjects or the researchers in the project. I’ll let the Columbia Blog take this one:

“We have learned that in high-dose sessions, especially during the onset and intense period of entheogen effects, the supportive structure of the music is more important than either the guide’s or the volunteer’s personal musical preferences. In states of ego transcendence, the everyday self as the perceiver of music may no longer exist, having entered into a unitive awareness that is claimed to be quite independent of whatever sonic frequencies are coming into the ears through the headphones or loudspeakers.”

In treating alcoholism with psilocybin, the Johns Hopkins study found that participants responded to Brahms symphonies, of all things. Brahms is criticized for being a bourgeois composer, but apparently his music isn’t for squares. Many of the subjects went on to attend symphony concerts and classical music remained a part of their lives.

Now, who is going to be the first symphony orchestra to present a psilocybin concert? Yes, it’s illegal, but what better way to find a new audience than an underground illegal magic mushroom concert based on the John Hopkins playlist?

It’s not like there isn’t a tradition of drugs in classical music. Berlioz hit opium all the time and even wrote music about it. His Symphonie Fantastique is about a young man tripping on opium.

Someday, maybe we’ll all go to a performance of Symphonie Fantastique and be able to smoke a bowl of opium before the concert instead of listen to a talk about the influences on the composer’s music — which should include drugs. We treat the drug use as if it were just a footnote. From what I’ve heard, opium is a “helluva drug” and is gonna take a central position when it’s being used.

Chopin also took loads of opium via sugar cubes. Chopin and Berlioz? That’s good company. Schumann is another composer who used mind altering substances, but it is unclear what he used outside of mercury and arsenic. Opium was everywhere at the time so it’s a likely candidate.

We’ve been over the sex part several times here in the column, but this is the first time we’re including drugs. So now we’re in a position to assert that it’s all about sex, drugs, and classical.

Just so we’re clear, I’m suggesting that illicit drug use become a part of the classical music culture, as it was in the past, in order to create a new audience. Maybe we can start with some medical marijuana since it’s a gateway drug.

Share This Article

Comments

Sort Comments By

[IMGL="white"]https://drugs-forum.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=48048&stc=1&d=1453001068[/IMGL] “As consciousness is returning to ordinary awareness after intense experiences of a mystical, visionary, or psychodynamic nature, most any style of music can be explored with delight.”

Psychedelics and music have long been linked, but at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where William A. Richards conducts research, music plays an important part in ensuring the stability off entheogen study participants. In this excerpt from Sacred Knowledge: Psychedelics and Religious Experiences, Richards explains the role of music in his work. The excerpt is followed by the playlist Richards compiled.

Part of a new guide’s orientation at Johns Hopkins entails becoming familiar with the supportive music used in a particular research study and the rationale for its selection. We have learned that in high-dose sessions, especially during the onset and intense period of entheogen effects, the supportive structure of the music is more important than either the guide’s or the volunteer’s personal musical preferences. In states of ego transcendence, the everyday self as the perceiver of music may no longer exist, having entered into a unitive awareness that is claimed to be quite independent of whatever sonic frequencies are coming into the ears through the headphones or loudspeakers. As the ego approaches its dissolution and when it begins to be reconstituted, however, the nonverbal structure of the music may provide signiﬁcant support. Thus, sensitivity to the therapeutic potential of carefully selected music may be an important factor in enhancing psychological safety.

One playlist that has been carefully developed through trial and error and has been found to work well with many different people over time is included at the end of this book. It includes a signiﬁcant amount of classical music, symphonic and choral, as well as some Hindu chant, in the intense portions of the session and lighter selections near the return to everyday reality at the end of the day. We discovered in early research in the 1960s, notably with some alcoholics who had never appreciated classical music, that Brahms symphonies and similar works resonated deeply within them and proved highly effective in providing nonverbal structure and support. Many of those people not only discovered an appreciation of classical music within themselves, but went out and purchased records, tapes, or compact disks to facilitate the continuing integration of their experiences and for future enjoyment. It may be noted that, as consciousness is returning to ordinary awareness after intense experiences of a mystical, visionary, or psychodynamic nature, most any style of music can be explored with delight. At this time, one’s personal favorite selections may be enjoyed with fresh appreciation.

Re: Research confirms classical music is the best music to listen to while tripping b

Oh, I'd love to smoke some opium then go to a performance of the Symphonie Fantastique. Come to think of it, I actually have listened to it while smoking... It's funny, I always liked Chopin and Berlioz, even before I knew they used opium.

There's a certain indefinable quality to the work of people who used opium, whether it's music, or writing, or art. There's some debate about how often writers like Poe and Baudelaire actually used opium, but I'd be willing to bet it was relatively frequent, based on the texture (for lack of a better word) of their writing. I often wonder at how drug use affects the artistic output of people who use them.

Sex, drugs, and classical music sounds like a great combo to me. Is it just me, or is classical music really erotic?

Re: Research confirms classical music is the best music to listen to while tripping b

I am not a WEED smoker now as I did that stuff as kid and was fun but I was floored and in years about the young baby girl who suffered SEIZURES . Sehe on the Documentary of certain cannibus that has medical properties absolutely essential to those who have seizures. The family of that daughter had to literally move to COLO because of the laws in NJ and drugs. That was an incredible story and the whole program with DR SANJE GUPTA.